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Iaboo, Youaboo, Weallaboo for Anime!
- Thread starter Johnny Unusual
- Start date
S3 is definitely just as delightful as I remember. First episode was a really strong episode with killer gags. Man, the director for this show is such a superstar.
Mr Bean
Chief Detective
Has Crunchyroll changed their free offerings with the Funimation merger and I just can't find it? It used to be that stuff unlocked for the ad supported tier a week after it came out for premium, but now everything except SpyXFamily is locked behind the paywall. Bookworm, Kaguya, even new stuff I wanted to check out like Birdy Wing all have 2-3 weeks of content still under the premium lock. It's probably worth it to sign up, but I don't like being coerced into it like this.
IIRC at some point Crunchyroll was going to get rid of the free, ad-supported option. Don't know if that's gone into effect yet, but it probably will soon. It's honestly miraculous that their free option lasted this long, as it's definitely not the route the entire industry is taking.
I don't mind paying for CR at all. It offers me better value than pretty much any other service, and their library just doubled without so much as a rate increase during this ongoing Funimation merger. But I don't blame anyone for not being thrilled at yet another recursive monthly payment. (I do the yearly subs; comes out to a fair bit cheaper and I know I'll be subbed that long anyways, so there's always that option still.)
I don't mind paying for CR at all. It offers me better value than pretty much any other service, and their library just doubled without so much as a rate increase during this ongoing Funimation merger. But I don't blame anyone for not being thrilled at yet another recursive monthly payment. (I do the yearly subs; comes out to a fair bit cheaper and I know I'll be subbed that long anyways, so there's always that option still.)
How did I miss Kaguya S3 starting? Watched the first episode - it's great. Like, really great. Thanks Kaguya. Thaguya.
Pajaro Pete
(He/Himbo)
Yes, they did. Essentially, the Spring season stuff might have a few free episodes, but everything in this season is only under Premium.
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
Birdie Wing just had an episode where the mafia families settle a land deal with an underground golf game with a shuffling super course and the opponent is a thirsty snake lady who also looks like a vampire and drives the car from Doctor Who.
'
It was the least expected car to be owned by a specific character that I have ever imagined.
It was the least expected car to be owned by a specific character that I have ever imagined.
Purple
(She/Her)
Pajaro Pete
(He/Himbo)
The thrilling conclusion to the Sailor Moon saga, Sailor Moon Cosmos Parts 1 and 2, are hitting theaters summer 2023.
Impossibly, a Discord channel I'm in workshopped an actually good isekai premise that I would actually be interested in watching:
"Help! I got Hit By a Bus And was Reincarnated With Back Problems!"
It's a comedy where everyone tries to convince someone who got hit by a bus that no, they just got hit by a bus and they're still in the same universe, but that person refuses to believe it because they've read so many isekai that they simply refuse to believe getting hit by a bus doesn't transport them to another world.
*waits for someone to tell him that this exists, because every isekai premise has already been willed into existence through sheer volume*
"Help! I got Hit By a Bus And was Reincarnated With Back Problems!"
It's a comedy where everyone tries to convince someone who got hit by a bus that no, they just got hit by a bus and they're still in the same universe, but that person refuses to believe it because they've read so many isekai that they simply refuse to believe getting hit by a bus doesn't transport them to another world.
*waits for someone to tell him that this exists, because every isekai premise has already been willed into existence through sheer volume*
"I got reincarnated as a bus and now I send people to other worlds."
conchobhar
What's Shenmue?
Shenmue: The Animation finished over the weekend. I was skeptical of it when it was announced, both from the short length (13 episodes to cover the first two games) and from the very idea of an adaptation — Hadn't Yu Suzuki always discounted continuing the Shenmue story as a book or comic? Why would this be different? — but gave it a go anyway. To my surprise, it turned out to be much better than I expected.
No, it doesn't capture the game's verisimilitude; but it has the good sense not to try. This is one of those adaptations that recognizes that the source material is heavily reliant on its medium, and that any adaptation requires a bit of a rethink. So, Shenmue: The Animation cuts the story to the quick and ramps up the mystery and tension, turning it into a martial arts detective-adventure. And I think it works. By moving at a brisk pace, the story actually hits the dramatics that it probably always intended, and it becomes a pretty enjoyable (if not particularly original) romp. It helps that they have, in some ways, fleshed out and filled in the story: more time is afforded to Ryo's relationship with his father, characters like Nozomi and Joy get more screentime and play a slightly more active role in the narrative, and minor characters like Mark and Guizhang have their backstories and relationships changed slightly to give them an arc of sorts.
It does feel a bit rushed at times, and unable to give big events the time or space they need to really sink in and make an impact — this is particularly true of the final episode, where the big reveals in Bailu don't have nearly the impact they should. The dream would have been a full a 26-episode run, but I think even another three or four episodes would have been a huge boon. Still, I remain fairly impressed with the compression overall; the core of the story remains intact, and it's never incoherent.
What really endears me to it, though, is that it was clearly made by people who really, really love the games. It is incredibly faithful to the visuals of the games: even the most minor characters, like thugs that briefly impede Ryo, have their designs carried over; locations are true to the game not just in building interiors, but the city layouts; lots of shot compositions are taken straight from the game cutscenes. But more than that, it includes lots of small moments from the games, or nods to it. It includes scenes of Ryo using the chawan sign in the wrong places and getting into trouble for it. Eileen's and Izumi's subplots are entirely excised from the anime (an easy call to make), but it still finds the time to give them short but memorable cameos — including showing off Izumi's martial arts prowess, which in the game doesn't come up until much later. That inexplicable and pointless scene of Ryo watching a plane fly overhead gets its due. It even goes beyond these two games: a few anime-exclusive scenes with Shenhua in Bailu include a few nods to Shenmue III. And it does this without ever trying to call attention to it — it's never drawing attention to the Sega Saturn in Ryo's house — just putting them there for the fans to mark out over, which is nice.
Shenmue: The Animation certainly has its shortcomings and in no way replaces the games; but for a project that could have really, really easily been a disaster, that it instead came out pretty well is a pleasant surprise. I just hope it did well enough that it doesn't follow the same trajectory of the games, and that it won't be some fifteen years before we get the Shenmue III adaptation.
Too bad Yukawa didn't pop up, though. Would have been my new avatar.
No, it doesn't capture the game's verisimilitude; but it has the good sense not to try. This is one of those adaptations that recognizes that the source material is heavily reliant on its medium, and that any adaptation requires a bit of a rethink. So, Shenmue: The Animation cuts the story to the quick and ramps up the mystery and tension, turning it into a martial arts detective-adventure. And I think it works. By moving at a brisk pace, the story actually hits the dramatics that it probably always intended, and it becomes a pretty enjoyable (if not particularly original) romp. It helps that they have, in some ways, fleshed out and filled in the story: more time is afforded to Ryo's relationship with his father, characters like Nozomi and Joy get more screentime and play a slightly more active role in the narrative, and minor characters like Mark and Guizhang have their backstories and relationships changed slightly to give them an arc of sorts.
It does feel a bit rushed at times, and unable to give big events the time or space they need to really sink in and make an impact — this is particularly true of the final episode, where the big reveals in Bailu don't have nearly the impact they should. The dream would have been a full a 26-episode run, but I think even another three or four episodes would have been a huge boon. Still, I remain fairly impressed with the compression overall; the core of the story remains intact, and it's never incoherent.
What really endears me to it, though, is that it was clearly made by people who really, really love the games. It is incredibly faithful to the visuals of the games: even the most minor characters, like thugs that briefly impede Ryo, have their designs carried over; locations are true to the game not just in building interiors, but the city layouts; lots of shot compositions are taken straight from the game cutscenes. But more than that, it includes lots of small moments from the games, or nods to it. It includes scenes of Ryo using the chawan sign in the wrong places and getting into trouble for it. Eileen's and Izumi's subplots are entirely excised from the anime (an easy call to make), but it still finds the time to give them short but memorable cameos — including showing off Izumi's martial arts prowess, which in the game doesn't come up until much later. That inexplicable and pointless scene of Ryo watching a plane fly overhead gets its due. It even goes beyond these two games: a few anime-exclusive scenes with Shenhua in Bailu include a few nods to Shenmue III. And it does this without ever trying to call attention to it — it's never drawing attention to the Sega Saturn in Ryo's house — just putting them there for the fans to mark out over, which is nice.
Shenmue: The Animation certainly has its shortcomings and in no way replaces the games; but for a project that could have really, really easily been a disaster, that it instead came out pretty well is a pleasant surprise. I just hope it did well enough that it doesn't follow the same trajectory of the games, and that it won't be some fifteen years before we get the Shenmue III adaptation.
Too bad Yukawa didn't pop up, though. Would have been my new avatar.
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
Hey, there's finally a list of what is coming to Crunchy from Funi for May. Lots of dubs, which is less interesting to me, but some stuff worth checking out.
May 3
May 17
May 24
Initial D is there. Sadly it looks like the first season sub isn't there.
There's some more recent stuff that is pretty decent, like Gymnastics Samurai, Sonny Boy, DECA-DENCE and RE-MAIN, which doesn't completely live up to it's promise of the first episode but isn't bad overall.
May 3
- Chain Chronicle -The Light of Haecceitas- (Dub)
- Fairy Tail Seasons 3-4 (Dub)
- Harukana Receive (Dub)
- ISEKAI QUARTET Season 1 (Dub)
- Kemono Michi: Rise Up (Sub and Dub)
- Prison School (Sub and Dub)
- Shironeko Project ZERO Chronicle (Sub and Dub)
- RE-MAIN (Sub and Dub)
- Fairy Tail Seasons 5-6 (Dub)
- Grimgar, Ashes and Illusions (Sub and Dub)
- Initial D First Stage (Dub)
- ISEKAI QUARTET Season 2 (Dub)
- Lord Marksman and Vanadis (Dub)
- Space Dandy (Sub and Dub)
- Tsuredure Children (Dub
May 17
- Black Lagoon (Dub)
- Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail (Dub)
- Fairy Tail Season 7 (Dub)
- Initial D Second Stage (Sub and Dub)
- Initial D Third Stage (Sub and Dub)
- Link Click (Sub)
- Link Click Special Shorts (Sub)
- Nekopara (Sub and Dub)
- Trigun (Sub and Dub)
- Valkyrie Drive -Mermaid- (Sub and Dub)
May 24
- Banished from the Hero's Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside (Sub and Dub)
- DECA-DENCE (Sub and Dub)
- Fairy Tail Season 8 (Dub)
- Fairy Tail Final Season (Dub)
- Heaven's Lost Property
- Initial D Fourth Stage (Sub and Dub)
- Sonny Boy (Sub and Dub)
- The Gymnastics Samurai (Sub and Dub)
Initial D is there. Sadly it looks like the first season sub isn't there.
There's some more recent stuff that is pretty decent, like Gymnastics Samurai, Sonny Boy, DECA-DENCE and RE-MAIN, which doesn't completely live up to it's promise of the first episode but isn't bad overall.
You misspelled Space Dandy
Trigun is a pretty good time though. It's not objectively incredible, but it hit in just the right ways for a lot of people at just the right time in life. It's just a shame it hasn't gotten an hd remaster yet.
As someone who only watched Trigun in the last couple of years; Trigun is excellent.
If Cowboy Bebop wasn’t the 800-pound gorilla of Best Anime Space Western, Trigun would be that gorilla. Instead it’s merely the Mighty Joe Young, or maybe Kong Skull Island.
I am excited to finally watch Space Dandy and Black Lagoon, however.
If Cowboy Bebop wasn’t the 800-pound gorilla of Best Anime Space Western, Trigun would be that gorilla. Instead it’s merely the Mighty Joe Young, or maybe Kong Skull Island.
I am excited to finally watch Space Dandy and Black Lagoon, however.
Well would you look at that. The third installment in the remake Space Battleship Yamato 2199 series: "Space Battleship Yamato 2205: The New Voyage" came out. I'd been waiting for it but forgot that I was waiting. 2205 is "only" 8 episodes/2 films, but it's still a damned good time. The stakes and size of the conflicts here are scaled down a bit from 2202, but I think I prefer that. Yamato continues to be a top, goat-tier space opera so I breezed through those 8 episodes like they were nothing. And apparently another sequel is in the works. "Be Forever Yamato: Rebel 3199". A sequel that's being described as a full 26 episodes long, so that's gonna be something. I assume it'll continue the threat previewed in 2205. Can't wait!
MOB PSYCHO 100 III coming in October
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
I think this is more wanting to retell a classic rather than fix something. Of course, there's hold up for "tells a good story" which, I think so from my memories of watching the first season a long time ago, it does, and there's hold up in "our lead is a sex pest" which means that like City Hunter or GTO is a thing that requires some real compartmentalizing if your tolerance for laughing at sexual harassment has lowered. But I don't think the new one is looking to "remedy" that in any significant way.
The original anime is also a ridiculous colossus of 200 TV episodes and over a dozen films/OVAs, making it an exceedingly tall order for people to get into on top of all the culture shock of forty-year-old media it has by now accrued. It's for vintage enthusiasts, nostalgics and possibly those with interest in Mamoru Oshii's career and works, but newer viewers will be better served by an adaptation that is created outside the context of its phenomenal level of saturation in its contemporary heyday. Lum alone is so iconic that most people have at least some awareness of the series existing even if they've never personally interacted with it, so revivals like these make entertaining that osmosed whimsy more feasible.
As for whether it holds up, I would never watch a Takahashi series I could read, and of her megahits Urusei Yatsura is probably the least interesting in a vacuum, but that just means it has more room for adaptive friction to result in something askew and worthwhile when other people handle the material. It's happened before!
As for whether it holds up, I would never watch a Takahashi series I could read, and of her megahits Urusei Yatsura is probably the least interesting in a vacuum, but that just means it has more room for adaptive friction to result in something askew and worthwhile when other people handle the material. It's happened before!
The recent City Hunter revival movie was an interesting case in this, where extremely early in the movie, Ryo tries to do some of his normal horny-boy-creeper business, and Kaori immediately shuts it down like literally, "HEY THIS ISN'T THE 80'S NO MORE, YOU CAN'T DO THIS" while beating the ever loving shit out of him, and after that the movie kind of moves on and Ryo's immense horniness basically goes almost all the way away. I can see a UY remake series toning everything down on the horniness by quite a bit.